# Ziina زينة

> Ziina is a Dubai-based fintech that lets people and small businesses send, spend, and get paid from a phone. Launched in 2020 as one of the UAE's first peer-to-peer payment apps, it removes the friction of IBANs and Swift codes by moving money through a phone number, then extends into business tools: payment links, QR and NFC Tap to Pay, a checkout gateway for online stores, and an upcoming business card. Licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE as a stored value facility, Ziina has raised more than $30 million and serves tens of thousands of consumer and business customers across the MENA region.

- **Founded:** 2020
- **Headquarters:** Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- **Founders:** Faisal Toukan (Co-Founder & CEO), Sarah Toukan (Co-Founder), Andrew Gold (Co-Founder), Talal Toukan (Co-Founder)
- **Team size:** ~280 employees
- **Products:** Ziina P2P Wallet, Payment Links, ZiiBoard Payments Keyboard, Payment Gateway (Checkout), Tap to Pay
- **Notable:** First venture-backed startup to receive a Stored Value Facility license from the Central Bank of the UAE., One of the UAE's first peer-to-peer payment apps., Raised more than $30M across pre-seed, seed and Series A.

## Products & services

- **Ziina P2P Wallet** — A mobile wallet that lets users send and receive money using just a phone number - no IBAN or Swift code required - with real-time notifications and transaction history.
- **Payment Links** — Shareable links that let businesses and individuals collect payments over social media and messaging apps via Apple Pay, Google Pay, Mastercard and Visa.
- **ZiiBoard Payments Keyboard** — An in-app keyboard that lets businesses request and send payment links directly inside messaging and social apps like WhatsApp and Instagram.
- **Payment Gateway (Checkout)** — An online checkout for SMEs with multi-currency support and integrations for Shopify and WooCommerce.
- **Tap to Pay** — Contactless in-person acceptance that turns an iPhone or Android phone into a card terminal with no extra hardware.
- **QR Code / POS Payments** — In-person point-of-sale acceptance using QR codes for merchants.
- **ZiiCard (Business Card)** — An upcoming card for businesses and individuals to manage funds, pay suppliers, categorize expenses, set employee-level controls and split payments.

## Achievements

- First venture-backed startup to receive a Stored Value Facility license from the Central Bank of the UAE.
- One of the UAE's first peer-to-peer payment apps.
- Raised more than $30M across pre-seed, seed and Series A.
- Grew from 20,000 consumer users at launch (2021) to ~50,000 retail and business customers by 2024.
- Backed by Y Combinator, Altos Ventures, Fintech Collective, FJ Labs and JIMCO.
- Launched Tap to Pay on iPhone in the UAE (2025).

## Latest updates

- **2025-07** — Partnered with the Dubai CommerCity free zone to support e-commerce merchants.
- **2025-04** — Launched Tap to Pay on iPhone in the UAE, letting businesses accept in-person contactless payments with no extra hardware.
- **2024-09** — Raised $22M Series A led by Altos Ventures to move from a payments platform toward end-to-end financial services, ahead of a ZiiCard launch.
- **2023-05** — Introduced a payment gateway for SMEs with Shopify and WooCommerce integrations.

## Links

- Website: https://ziina.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziina
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/ziinamena
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziinapay
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/Ziina-106780037720526/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ziina
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-24